Hello again, folks, from London UK

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

“We must accept finite disappointment, but we mast never lose infinite hope.” – Martin Luther King

“Always remember that you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.” – A. A. Milne

“If you are pining for youth I think it produces a stereotypical old man because you only live in memory, you live in a place that doesn’t exist. Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been.” David Bowie

Hello again, folks, from London UK

No poem today, sorry. I am working hard on the final part of my poetry trilogy, but the heat is getting me down and there is still more of it in my mind than on paper. As regular readers know, years of hormone therapy (only) for my prostate cancer have really messed with my thought processes. Even so, we golden oldie poets are stronger and more determined than we look, so I press on. I am taking a break from Misnomer (3) while we are having to endure a heatwave here in the UK, but hope to finish and post it sometime next week.

The heat makes me feel dead beat. but writing poetry and doing word puzzles help even a gay poet to think straight. 😁  

Reader G J has emailed to complain that “You are very selective with your quotes, always choosing those that support your own views. Besides, some of the people you quote are obscure and unheard of…!” He or she also asks, “Do you realise that you often repeat the same quotes on other posts?” 

Yes, I am selective about the quotes I choose to post, not to support my own views, but (a) to provide the reader with an entry to the poem and (b) to avoid giving the impression that I am simply imposing my own views. As for obscurity, there is an entry for everyone I quote on Wikipedia if anyone cares to look, as I hope they will; yes, the authors may be obscure to some readers, but are well worth looking into, but this is a poetry blog and there simply isn’t room for me to expand.

As for repetition. I learned at an early age that if something is worth saying, it is invariably worth repeating; that’s how memorable quotes become… well, memorable. 😉

I hope some of you will find time to explore the blog archives now and then, although I suspect a heatwave is probably not the best encouragement...

In the course of global warming, I imagine many if not most of us will be having to deal with unseasonal heat and its consequences in the foreseeable future. I can but wish you all to keep well, stay safe and continue (as I do, albeit a struggle sometimes) to nurture a positive thinking mindset, whatever… No, never easy, but there is a lot to be said for the old saying ‘Hope springs eternal’… especially when the going gets tough.

In my experience, too, the spirit of kindness never fails to make itself felt and give hope a timely and very welcome boost

Take care, stay safe and keep well,

Hugs,

Roger

The Leaf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

“In every change, in every falling leaf there is some pain, some beauty. And that's the way new leaves grow. - Amit Ray

“Storms make the oak grow deeper roots” – George Herbert

“Birth, life, and death - each took place on the hidden side of a leaf.” - Toni Morrison

Not a day passes when I am left wondering if I have another poem in me.  Yet, only a few days ago, I found myself observing a an oak tree leaf, left discoloured by a sustained heatwave, resisting a sudden breeze until finally in full flight from its host tree, dancing freely above my head. Moments later, a heavy shower brought it down and left it fluttering on a bed of dry grass but a few feet away. 

"A metaphor for us all there?" I wondered, as my thought processes began the task of assembling a poem...

THE LEAF

Sad leaf, shades of green,
yellow and brown,
grown weary of resisting
a fun, lively breeze,
employing summer’s wiles
to have it break free 
of host tree and season,
birdsong, a plea  to Earth Mother
to see it true to its nature

Oak, hungry for nurture,
no less thirsting
for rainfall than generations
of kith and kin,
budding flowers and fauna, 
keeping it company
in (far) better times and worse,
trusting Earth Mother to listen well,
as deserves heart-and-soul

Sad leaf, making its bid
for freedom,
persuaded by the breeze
to explore its time
and space within minutes
of welcome shower's
waking flowers and fauna
to a finer well-being, a light rainfall 
reworking heart-and-soul

Leaf’s delight in sailing
on the breeze
sadly, but only short-lived,
wind easing, raindrops 
forcing it to face home truths,
all kith and kin 
left weeping as it lay dying, 
regretting its having finally caved in
to the thrill of temptation?

Dead leaf, oft recalled by kith and kin
to any who care to listen...

Copyright R. N. Taber, 2022

[Note: If you enjoy dipping into the blog from time to time, do tell  any others whom you think may also  enjoy some of my poems.  Thanks for dropping by today, much appreciated.] RT

Heatwave

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber 

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.” – Mahatma Gandhi

“What is the use of a house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?” – Henry David Thoreau

“The climate crisis has already been solved. We already have the facts and solutions. All we have to do is wake up and change.” – Greta Thunberg

Cherish the natural world, because you’re a part of it and depend on it.” -  Sir David Attenborough

 Now, much of Europe is in the grip of the most sustained heatwave for fifty years. In London and other parts of the UK, temperatures are forecast to peak tomorrow and/ or the next day at around 40 degrees Celsius, which would be the highest ever recorded here.

In the meantime, those of us who can barely stand even moderate heat, await tomorrow with baited breath, given that a significant number of deaths, directly related to the heatwave, have been reported across southern Europe.

Isn’t it about time we all took those scientists who have been studying climate change for years more seriously instead of being in denial or, worse, treating it as none of our immediate concern?

People matter. The planet matters. The past-present-future of all creatures great and small deserves better, surely, than an endgame that has the potential to reduce it to ashes?

So, what can we all do to, each in their own way, to at least limit climate change …better late than too late…?

HEATWAVE

Apollo, raging at humanity
for breaking faith with a natural world
force fed good intentions
meant to improve quality of life
for native communities 
too busy fighting amongst each other
to let serious thought dwell
on the effects of climate change in a future
too distant to really matter

Apollo, messaging humanity
to have a care when poisoning earth, sea
and air with egos driven
by greed and/ or a desire to get one over
his/ her neighbour 
because appearances matter, prove
that human nature
has the capacity to do better than but wait
on some fruitful turn of fate? 

Apollo, in sheer desperation,
commanded by an Earth Mother driven
to breaking such laws of nature
as have been attended to for centuries
in spite of human vagaries
spilling over landscapes of such poetry
as would have seeing-eyes,
hearing-ears, attend the living, one and all,
a kinder future, heart-and soul

Sun, whose risings, settings,
have marked the acts and contemplations
of generations, for better, worse
or such puzzles to be muddled through
as best we can, tomorrows
always waiting in the wings to see what we
will make or break of it,
whether quality-of-life is taskmaster or slave,
healing power or topical heatwave

Copyright R. N. Taber 2022